The government makes employers carry unemployment insurance to help their employees that are off work and bodily able to work, yet they DO NOT require them to carry Disability Insurance which covers people who are off and CAN NOT work due to health reasons. You are not allowed to draw the unemployment if you are not able to work. So therefore you have no income while you are off sick. This is not a fair scenario. It is time to change this, as you can only get disability insurance through a payroll deduction. I was affected by this in June 2011 and June 2012 where I was off for 2 months both times with major surgery and had no income at all and lost everything I had, including my house, car, and furnishings.

Recent Council action removed vital economic development funds for growing the Capitol Riverfront, the Yards and Poplar Point. This investment would have created jobs, added residents, and served as a critical link in the city's economic development. Take action today and don't let this bad decision hurt the city's progress. Tell the Council to Put It Back!

Support Senator Warren's grassroots effort to make Student Loans affordable and fair.

Legalize Marijuana and pay off our debt, plus additional taxes.

The Executive Board of the South Dakota legislature recently voted to pay membership fees for all state legislators in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), as well as the lawmakers' expenses when attending ALEC conferences. Financed in part by the billionaire Koch brothers, ALEC is a private, corporate-funded organization that produces "model legislation" to be advanced through state legislatures around the nation. Though ALEC claims to be nonpartisan, its model bills actually promote extreme conservative interests. Because this new practice is both a misuse of taxpayer money and a threat to our state's political process, we concerned South Dakota taxpayers hereby voice our strenuous opposition.

As an essential component of culture, language functions as a vital facet of the Native American identity. The preservation and sustenance of indigenous languages is integral in ensuring the continued conservation of Native cultural sovereignty. Originally, 300+ Native languages were spoken throughout the United States: 75 of these have disappeared since European contact. UNESCO estimates that in the next decade, if swift action is not taken, approximately 74 more Native languages will disappear. In response to this issue, the federal government has been attempting to preserve Native languages before they disappear entirely. Implementing Native languages in the form of bilingual education programs into public schools will not only revitalize these dying languages, but these programs will improve student achievement as well. The state of education for Native students in Arizona is incredibly bleak. Native students make up 7% of the student body in Arizona public schools. However, this group of students is 117% more likely to drop out of school than their white counterparts. In order to improve student achievement for Native students, and for Arizona students overall, we urge state officials to implement bilingual education programs into public schools. Through these bilingual education programs, Native students are motivated to stay in school and renew their cultural identity. Help us preserve Native languages, and foster an empowering system of education!

The Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013, introduced by Republican U.S. Senator John McCain on May 9, 2013, would allow Americans to buy cable & satellite channels separately, or “a la carte,” and give Americans more control over the content they receive and pay for. The bill would also require over-the-air broadcast companies (think major networks) to maintain the same programming over-the-air that they also provide to cable & satellite companies, and would eliminate blackouts of local major sports events if the venue or arena where the event occurs has received taxpayer funding.

Just what authority does the mayor, city secretary, city councilmember, judge, police chief, county sheriff, county commissioners, county & district attorneys & judges actually have? Have they properly complied with the requisites of Article 16 Section 1 of the Texas Constitution?

Our neighbor North Dakota has had its own state bank for over 100 years which has served the state well: has reduced cost of loans to businesses, supported community banks, returned profits to the state treasury and allowed the state to circumvent the problematic big banks of Wall Street. We should learn from their experience and adopt such a good idea.

State Senator Tom Casperson (R, 38th District) led the Republican effort in the Michigan legislature to initiate a wolf hunt in the state. His co-sponsored bills, SB 288 and 289, were passed in both houses with overwhelming Republican support, and were signed into law by Republican Governor Snyder on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. These new laws initiate a hunt that is unnecessary and unwarranted by science, permits steel trapping of wolves, and takes away the people's right to referendum on all future wildlife issues in Michigan.

Limiting the ability to filerbuster to one per member, per session. only to be used in person and once started must defend your decision to filerbuster B4 you spout gibberish until all others fall asleep.

Organized religions enjoy tax breaks that are outrageous. These tax breaks amount to at least 71 billion dollars annually and that's only what can be accounted for. Countless billions cannot be accounted for. These tax breaks violate the separation of church and state and it is time to end them. Follow this link and read the report http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=fi&page=cragun_32_4